Who Always Will
by Anniebananie1252
Summary: "There comes a point in your life when you realize who really matters, who never did and who always will. I thought that this point had come and gone long ago, but suddenly, my choices are starting to change." Amu decides to study Graphic designing at a University in France. When she arrives, she is surprised to find Ikuto already there.
1. Chapter 1

As I get up from my seat, my heart starts to race. I wait patiently for my turn to walk down the small aisle towards the end of the plane. Finally, I see the door. A flight attendant waves at me as I walk down the steps of the plane. My feet touch the ground and I take in a deep breath. I finally made it. I'm finally in France.

Four years ago, I decided that I wanted to become a graphic designer. I researched some schools and my favourite was the one in France. Since the tenth grade I've been working my butt off trying to ace my math courses and achieve fluency in French and English. I'm not quite fluent yet, but I know enough to get around. Hopefully.

The decision to move so far was a lot easier to make when it felt like a lifetime away, but yesterday, saying goodbye to everyone was so hard I almost didn't leave. My parents were both crying, and all of my fellow past-gaurdians were there too, but the worst part was saying goodbye to Ami.

Ami was almost as excited as me when I told her I wanted to study in France, but actually standing in the airport and knowing that I wouldn't see her for months at a time broke my heart. You grow up knowing that one day you'll leave your parents, and you learn throughout your life that friends often grow apart, but siblings are different. They're there for your worst and best moments. They're the people you know you'll always have. Obviously I don't go to Ami for advice or anything, but I could always count on her for a laugh or at least a smile. Of all the people I'll miss, I think Ami will be the hardest get by without.

I walk towards the airport entrance and start to read the signs, looking for my baggage claim station. I see a lady who was on the flight with me and quickly run after her.

" excuse-moi" I say, hoping desperately she understands.

She turns around and smiles. " Oui?"

I ask her where our baggage claim is, so she just tells me to follow her. She makes small talk with me and I'm pleased to see that I can actually understand about ninety percent of what she's saying. She compliments my pink hair and asks about why I'm in France. I tell her about the university I'm going to. She gets very excited and starts speaking very quickly so I don't quite catch everything that she's saying, but I think her daughter goes to the same university. I laugh and reply with

" C'est une petite monde"

Half an hour later, I'm sitting in the back of a taxi cab heading towards the university. I gaze out the window trying to get aquatinted with my new surroundings. Wow. Who would have thought I'd end up here. In Paris.

It's times like these that remind me of my characters.

When I'm sad or lonely or anxious, I remember how they used to cheer me up. Always bickering with each other, always laughing, always supporting me… Always loving me. We were like a mini family, until one day, Su said goodbye, gave me a hug then faded away. A few days later, Ran did the same thing. Dia had left without even saying good-bye. The last one to leave was Miki. She had explained everything to me before vanishing before my watering eyes.

" You no longer need us Amu-chan." Miki had said. " Su left first because it had become evident that you wern't going to follow that dream anymore. As soon as you'd decided that you didn't need to become her, she had to go. The same thing happened with Ran and Dia. I must go now too, because you've already become who you want to be. You've decided on a path, and I'm so happy you chose the path of art. We will always love you Amu."

And with that, they'd all left me forever. Sometimes I swear I can still hear their voices, but I know that they're gone.

Rima took it the hardest when her chara, Kusukusu left. Although Rima can make anyone laugh, her character was one of the few people who could make _her_ laugh on a regular basis. Laughter and humour were a really important part of Rima's life and when Kusukusu vanished, Rima changed a bit. She stopped trying to make people laugh so much. She wasn't as social anymore. To be honest I think she was on the verge of depression. She's better now, but I don't think she'll ever really be the same.

" nous sommes ici." The cabbie says, pulling up in front of an elegant looking apartment building. I thank him and pay for the ride before getting out of the car. Grabbing my luggage from the trunk, I head towards my dorm room.

 **hey guys! so this is going to be a cute story about amu and what** **happens** **to her in the** **future! Although the storyline will be pretty cutesy and fun, there will be some emotional issues that all of the characters have to go through. This is sort of be my take on who they all turned out to be. This story** ** _is_** **categorized as romance so you can expect some amuto action in the next few chapters, but don't get too excited now. I'm sooooo excited to be writing this! I've never really done a purely romancey story before so this will be a new experience for me! Please Review with any suggestions, comments, hate, love or anything else, I want to hear it all!**


	2. Chapter 2

I finish pinning up the last photo on my wall just as I hear a knock at the door. Curious, I walk over and open it. I gasp.

Standing in front of me is… Ikuto. I can't believe that out of all the places he'd be in Europe, it's here. I start to see the lines of his mouth turn up in his signature smirk.

" What are you doing here!" I demand. I try to sound indignant but the smile that creeps onto my face seems to have other plans.

" Just like old times, eh Amu-chan?" I laugh thinking of all the times he'd sneak onto my balcony.

" Well, are you going to come in or just stand there?" I say, holding the door out wider and motioning with my arm. He snorts, but comes in.

" So," I say already glaring at him for sitting on my bed. " Why are you here?"

" Turns out, the orchestra pays quite a bit of money." Ikuto begins. " So I saved it all up and decided to go to university. After touring all over Europe, I liked this city the most, so here I am. Studying violin and musical theory."

" Wow." I say. " That is a lot of money."

My parents had paid some of my tuition, but I made a lot of it up by tutoring kids. It's amazing how much people will pay to have their kids yelled at by strangers to do their homework. That's a lot of what I did anyways. I also got a few scholarships, but the rest my parents paid for. They could have paid for a lot more of it, technically, but I wanted to make sure that money wasn't a cause of why Ami wouldn't get an education.

" So…" I say, " Where's Yoru?"

Ikuto's expression turns a bit sad. " He disappeared the day of my first show. He told me that I played really well, and then he said that he wasn't needed anymore. He faded away and I never saw him again."

I smile at him. " You're free…" I murmur to myself, remembering why Yoru showed up in the first place. I guess I said it a bit louder than I meant to because Ikuto looks me straight in the eyes and whispers, " And you're finally grown up."

I blush remembering how he left us. How he'd taken me to the amusement park one last time.

Suddenly Ikuto snaps out of it and smirks. " I've got to go, but my room is number 402 on the guy's floor." With that, he leaves.

After Ikuto left Japan, I'd dated Tadase for a while. We'd hung out and went on dates, but we'd never really had the same connection I'd had with Ikuto. We broke up shortly after Ran disappeared. It was hard dealing with a break up and my charas disappearing all at once, but looking back I'm grateful it was all one big flood of sadness instead of little spurts of it throughout time.

Even though it hadn't seemed like it a few minutes ago, Ikuto and I did actually keep in touch all these years. We only lost contact this year, which is probably why I never found out he was going got the same university.

For the first time since Ikuto left me five years ago, I let myself think of a possible future with him. I think about how easily we make each other laugh, even if he annoys the hell out

of me.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

" Amu, go away!" Ikuto groans as I try to rouse him from his sleep.

It's four in the afternoon and I've just finished my Orientation meeting. Ikuto, of course, was napping.

" Come on!" I whine. " I wanna see the city!"

" Then go," Ikuto says, his face stuffed into his pillow.

" Ikuto! I want to go with you. Come on, we'll get you some coffee."

He looks up at me through the mess of blue bangs in his eyes. " Will you pay for it?" He asks.

I sigh. " Fine. But you're paying next time."

He grins. " Deal."

Half an hour later, Ikuto and I are walking along side _La sienne,_ warm cups of coffee in our hands. I was planning on just getting a hot chocolate, but Ikuto insisted that I try the coffee. I agreed, seeing as I _was_ in France, one of the world's most famous coffee destinations.

" So, how is everyone?" Ikuto asks as we walk.

" Well, you'd already know that if you'd kept in touch with anyone." I say lightly elbowing his ribs at we walk.

" You know I couldn't do that Amu." He sighs.

I do know that. He told me that the same year he'd left. I was bugging him about talking to Utau or at least him mom, but he refused. When he was finally fed up with the subject, he'd explained to me exactly why Yoru had appeared. Ikuto had wanted to be free. Like an alley cat, he wanted to wander the world without any destination or obligations. While on tour with the orchestra, Ikuto was finally doing that. Any contact with his family or friends would have ruined that. He would have been obliged to _call_ them regularly and visit them for holidays. It would have been like he'd never left.

" Why me then?" I ask. This question had been burning in my head since he'd first contacted me. Why, out of everyone, had he chosen to stay in contact with me?

Ikuto stays silent for a while. We keep walking until we spot a small wooden boat floating down _La Sienne_. It's a children's toy, painted blue with a little red flag attached. We both stop and lean forwards on he brick fence of the bridge as we watch it disappear.

" I knew you wouldn't hold me back." He finally answers.

" What?" I ask, having momentarily forgotten about my question.

" I knew that Utau and my mom, even Tadase, would keep pestering me about when I'd be coming back, and what I was doing."

" Oh I see," I say smirking. " So you _knew_ that I didn't care about your future. All this time I'd thought it was a secret, but I guess not."

" More like I didn't care what _you_ thought about my future." Ikuto says jokingly, shoving me lightly to the side.

" Hey!" I exclaim. " You'll make me spill my coffee!"

He laughs. "I have something I want to show you."

Suddenly, Ikuto grabs me by the hand and breaks into a run, dragging me behind him. I catch a few Parisians giving us strange looks, probably thinking something along the lines of,

 _Des jeunes étranges qui courent dans les rues!*_

But we keep running until we reach a music shop. I'm completely out of breath, but Ikuto keeps dragging me until we're inside the store. The shopkeeper smiles at Ikuto, obviously already knowing who he is.

" This is Hinamo-" He stops himself, remembering that In French, you don't call people by their last names first. " Amu Hinamori." He amends.

" Nice to meet you," I say, still a little out of breath.

The shopkeeper and Ikuto talk for a few more minutes, before they finally say their goodbyes.

" Follow me," Ikuto says.

He heads towards the back of the small store. I walk behind him until we reach a small door-way covered by a curtain. There's a sign that says 'employees only' but Ikuto pushes the curtain aside with his hand and for gestures me to come in.

It turns out, the curtain is there to cover a ladder leading up to a door. I follow as Ikuto climbs up the ladder and uses a key to unlock it. Upon further inspection, I see that it's the Dumpty Key.

" You still have the key?" I ask, incredulous.

" Yeah," Ikuto says as the door swings open.

We enter a circular shaped room. It's filled with random things from different cities and countries. Post cards, little statues, snow globes, book marks etc. As I walk around the room, I notice another curtain. I push it back and see the there's a small almost closet like space that's decorated with different things from Japan. There are photos of Ikuto with Yoru and Ikuto with Utau. I smile at all of the things that remind me of home. One of the walls of the space is painted to look like you're looking over Japan from a rooftop or something. After a moment, I realize that the view is actually the one from my bedroom balcony,

" This is amazing," I whisper.

Ikuto standing so close to me that I can feel his breath on my ear as he whispers back, " Look up."

I do and it's amazing. The ceiling is painted to look like the night sky.

" Oh my god." I say. " Who did this?"

Ikuto shrugs. " I have a friend who also goes to the university. Well, went. He graduated last year. He moved somewhere, but he painted this for me after I showed him a picture I once took on you're balcony."

" You took a photo from my balcony?" I ask.

" Yeah, I think you were asleep." I kuto says sheepishly.

On the floor of the little room there are blankets and pillows. For the next few hours, we stay in our miniature Japan, catching up and just enjoying the time we get to spend with each other. I'm happy to have a place to remember my family, as I'm finally discovering myself.

 **YAY! Chapter 2 complete! I hope you guys are enjoying this, and you better be grateful for the the Amuto so early on in the story. I am so grateful for all of your reviews and follows already! Thank you so much! Please keep reading and reviewing, it really does mean the world to me when I hear from you! Love you guys soooo much!**


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